“You don't care what Da-woon-hyung wants at all?”
Yeo-ul boiled over and strode right up to Ryu Tae-ha.
“If the leader says take it, then fuck, he's supposed to shut up and take it?”
“What reason is there not to?”
Ryu Tae-ha met the eyes of Yeo-ul, who stood half a head taller than him, and tilted up his sharp chin.
“He needs guiding, and if the usual method isn't working, then we try a different one.”
“That's exactly my point. Why does the leader get to decide that?”
Yeo-ul was furious that Ryu Tae-ha was pushing this forward without asking Da-woon. On top of that, knowing that Da-woon was the type to go along with whatever Ryu Tae-ha said, even if he didn't want to, made him even more irritated.
“Lower your voice. Plenty of eyes on us.”
Ryu Tae-ha took a step toward the seething Yeo-ul and reinforced the barrier.
“Just try shoving some Guide at Da-woon-hyung. Go ahead.”
The cold air leaking from the worked-up Yeo-ul turned the room frigid.
“I'll kill every last one of them.”
The final words reached Ryu Tae-ha alone. To everyone else, the sound never landed. Ryu Tae-ha had erased it with his ability.
“Yeo-ul, let's watch our mouths. There are a lot of ears in here.”
“I warned you.”
Yeo-ul's blue eyes, the light in them gone dead, fixed on Ryu Tae-ha with a chill. Even his flat, level voice carried bloodlust.
He meant it. Whoever the bastard was that laid a careless hand on Da-woon-hyung's body, he'd kill them. All of them.
No matter how nicely you dressed it up as guiding, in the end it was sex. Yeo-ul didn't want Da-woon having sex he didn't want.
And the leader, who recommended it like it was the most natural thing in the world, he wanted to beat to death too.
The first thing to do should be to figure out some other way, by any means.
Yeo-ul's glare at Ryu Tae-ha grew fiercer still. A sigh mixed into the smile Ryu Tae-ha gave him in return.
“I don't get it.”
He shook his head with the expression of someone dealing with a tantruming child.
“Mixing bodies for guiding is something everyone does. To survive. Why attach meaning to sex like that?”
Had he stopped there, Yeo-ul might have somehow managed to swallow it and listen. But Ryu Tae-ha's next, blunt remark finally made Yeo-ul snap.
“If Da-woon hated sex, that'd be one thing. He's not even a virgin, so what's the big-”
In that instant, Ryu Tae-ha lightly dodged the fist that flew at his face, seized Yeo-ul's wrist, and twisted it. At the same time, he bound with his barrier the leg that lunged for the other side of his cheek.
“Hyung, stop it...!”
At the razor's edge of the moment, just as Yeo-ul was about to unleash his ability too, Ryu Jin cut in and held his brother back.
“Don't fight. Y-Yeo-ul, please... please calm down.”
The air in the observation room sank cold.
The researchers, thoroughly frightened by the Espers' standoff, had already evacuated to the control room.
And they weren't the only ones who'd left.
“Hyung... Da-woon's gone.”
“What?”
Ryu Tae-ha and Yeo-ul looked at the bed in unison.
Da-woon, who should have been sitting on the bed, was nowhere to be seen. Having even neatly squared away the blanket, Da-woon had gotten the researchers' permission and headed back to the dorm first.
“He really left?”
Yeo-ul rushed over to the control room and asked the cluster of researchers.
“Ah, yes.”
The researcher tidying up the pads that had been stuck to Da-woon's body answered. He'd called a teleportation Esper and vanished just moments ago.
“He hurried off, said he had to feed his cat.”
“What food?”
Overwhelmed by Yeo-ul's expression, which looked ready to detonate at any second, the cluster of researchers avoided his gaze and glanced at one another.
“Uh, the... the cat food... right?”
“Yes, that's right. Cat food.”
“I heard it too. A cat.”
“A cat?”
Ryu Tae-ha, standing at the entrance to the control room, joined the conversation. Ryu Jin, glued to his side, also wore a puzzled look.
They'd never taken in a pet, and now a cat? They figured Da-woon had thrown out some bizarre excuse because he wanted to get back to the dorm quickly.
“He doesn't need to be admitted?”
The researcher nodded at Ryu Tae-ha's question and relayed it to all the Sawoo Guild members.
“Da-woon's baseline wavelength is on the stable side, so for the time being we'll just run periodic checks.”
Thanks to him being a Healer with low risk of going berserk, no hospitalization or quarantine order was issued. There were, however, a few precautions.
“Until he says he wants to himself, please keep the guiding intensity exactly as it is.”
Yeo-ul shot Ryu Tae-ha a glare. It was the look of someone demanding, Wasn't I right?
Ryu Tae-ha listened to the explanation with a composed face.
“If anything, forcing the attempt is more likely to backfire. Rather than contact guiding, let's gradually increase his dosage of guiding medication.”
The researcher additionally advised Ryu Jin, the assigned Guide, to monitor Da-woon's wavelength readings even more closely. Ryu Jin nodded eagerly and recorded Da-woon's medication schedule along with everything else in the notes app on his phone.
“And for a while, he'll need to minimize ability use as much as possible.”
The researcher's gaze shifted to Ryu Tae-ha, the guild leader.
He gently broached the idea of leaving Da-woon off field missions for a while if possible. Knowing this was a busy stretch because of the overheating gate problem, he was cautious even as he brought it up.
“For now, avoiding stressful situations is the most important thing. He's in the most vulnerable state when it comes to mental strain, so above all, please prioritize Da-woon's psychological stability.”
It was a common enough recommendation, but for Da-woon it was the hardest one to keep.
Owing to his sensitive nature, Da-woon got stressed more easily than most. In bad cases, just a spell of poor weather would have him breaking glass cups.
Lately he'd grown astonishingly calm, but a sensitive disposition wasn't something that could be cured in a single moment.
“And what if Da-woon-hyung wants to work?”
Yeo-ul, who had been quietly silent, opened his mouth.
Failing to grasp the unexpected question he'd thrown out, the researchers all froze together for a few seconds. Da-woon's work-shirking temperament was so well known that word of it had spread even to the annex.
“If such a thing... were to happen, by any chance, then rather than forcibly stopping him, try to persuade him toward rest as much as possible-”
“Yes, understood.”
Ryu Tae-ha simply cut off the researcher's rambling and created a teleportation gate.
“We'll try.”
With that answer, he took Ryu Jin and disappeared.
“...”
Left alone, Yeo-ul ground his teeth. Cursing Ryu Tae-ha with his eyes for going off and leaving only him behind, he stormed out of the control room.
At that savage aura, it was the innocent researchers who wiped away cold sweat.
So that's why it wasn't working.
Drifting between the convenience store shelves in a daze, Da-woon was lost in deep thought. After sweeping up every last bit of cat food and treats at the convenience store near the dorm, he tossed food to fill his own stomach into the basket too.
Unlike his hands, which packed the items quickly, his eyes were vacant and out of focus. It was the face he made when absorbed in thought.
“Um... Da-woon. Are you sick somewhere?”
The convenience store clerk, who'd recognized Da-woon of Sawoo Guild, asked cautiously while scanning the barcodes. Listlessly pulling out his card, Da-woon found himself agreeing without thinking.
“Yeah, I guess I'm sick.”
He hadn't even known he was sick. No, he knew better than anyone that Jung Da-woon's body fell ill often, but he'd never imagined being sick in a way like this.
A guiding rejection disorder, one that had never even appeared in the novel.
Da-woon gathered up what the researcher had told him, sorting it out in his head again.
This time too, he'd naturally assumed the guiding wasn't working because of Jung Da-woon's frail body. But the cause, if anything, lay within himself.
One month since he'd entered the novel. With time rushing by so chaotically, he hadn't had the leisure to look closely at his own condition. He hadn't felt the need to, either.
He'd thought he was adapting fairly well to the unfamiliar environment and lifestyle. Apparently that wasn't the case.
Right. As if being thrown into a novel's world out of nowhere weren't enough, he'd become an Esper on top of it, so of course his body and mind were both reeling.
I needed an adjustment period...
Had he known, he'd have looked after his mental health long ago, done some meditating at least, but the thought had never even crossed his mind.
Well, he could start now. Trying hard to take it lightly, Da-woon let out a small sigh.
“Jung Da-woon!”
Just then, the convenience store clerk, who'd been waving at the blankly standing Da-woon, raised his voice and shouted. It was because Da-woon had stood there dazed and unresponsive even after being called five times.
“Ah, yes. Sorry. Here's my card.”
Da-woon, his focus belatedly snapping back, hurriedly inserted his card into the payment terminal. The clerk studied Da-woon's complexion with a worried face.
“Are you feeling really bad? You look pretty seriously exhausted.”
“No, I'm fine. It's just because I'm hungry. I'm not sick.”
Realizing he'd worried the man for nothing, Da-woon corrected himself and took the heavy bag handed to him. For an Esper like him, the weight couldn't possibly be heavy. Even so, the clerk showed excessive kindness.
“If it's too much, should I carry your things for you? It's almost my shift change, so I can step away for a moment.”
Smiling and shaking his head, Da-woon was heading for the door when the plastic bag slipped right out of his hand.
How is he this strong? For a second Da-woon's eyes widened, wondering if the clerk was an Esper.
But the clerk was an ordinary, plain person. So then who in the world had dared to snatch the bag? The moment he turned his head to look, a familiar voice rang out behind him.
“Get back to your work.”
Ryu Tae-ha, having appeared out of thin air, threw a glance at the clerk. The plastic bag was in his hand.
Da-woon gazed indifferently at Ryu Tae-ha, who'd gone to the trouble of coming all the way to the convenience store, then headed out first.
As Ryu Tae-ha naturally followed behind, the clerk called out a hearty farewell at his back. Thank you, come again!
“Don't go back there. That bastard's an Alpha.”
Ryu Tae-ha jerked his chin toward the convenience store door, drew up beside Da-woon, and walked alongside him.
“I have eyes too, you know? He's a Beta.”
“He acts like an Alpha. Be careful. The way he was eyeing you was filthy.”
“Aren't you busy?”
“Why are you off on your own again?”
When Da-woon tried to take the plastic bag, Ryu Tae-ha hid it behind himself and lowered his voice.
“Why are you wandering around when you're not even well? If you need something, just send me to get it. ...Anyway, what is this?”
Ryu Tae-ha, who'd been nagging him, asking where the teleportation Esper was and why he was going around alone, scrunched up his eyes. He stared with puzzled eyes at the cat supplies packed full in the plastic bag.
“Cat food.”
“I'm asking why you bought this.”
“I bought it to feed the cat.”
“Where's the cat?”
“At the dorm. I picked it up by chance.”
“...You're telling me there's a cat at our dorm?”
Ryu Tae-ha had already been by the dorm. He'd come all the way to the convenience store looking for Da-woon, who wasn't there.
And the cat Da-woon spoke of was not at the dorm.
“Da-woon, are you doing some other drug behind my back, by any chance?”
Apparently thinking he must be seeing things, Ryu Tae-ha said something absurd.
“It's probably hiding in the room. It comes out when you look for it. So hurry up and give me the bag.”
Da-woon fussed, insisting he had to get going and feed it quickly.
The reason he'd sent the teleportation Esper ahead was that he'd wanted to get some outside air, even just for a moment. His chest felt so stifled that if he'd gone straight home like that, he thought he might come down with a fever.
The thought that Ryu Tae-ha had ruined even his brief walk made the irritation flare up for no good reason.
“I said give it to me!”
“It's heavy. I'll carry it.”
Ryu Tae-ha hid the snatched plastic bag behind his back. Does that man have time to spare?
“Go do your job. What if a gate bursts open again?”
“I'll go when the call comes. Forget that, hold on a second.”
Bringing Da-woon to a stop, Ryu Tae-ha abruptly folded his knees and crouched down.
Flustered by the sudden sight of the crown of his head, Da-woon started to ask what he was doing, then saw the shoes in his hand and closed his mouth.
“Why'd you leave your shoes behind?”
He took hold of Da-woon's ankle and slipped off the examination-room slippers he'd worn in place of the ruined indoor shoes. From the small, bandage-wrapped foot came the faint smell of disinfectant.
Gently cradling the injured foot, Ryu Tae-ha put on the shoes he'd brought from the dorm himself. Da-woon tensed his leg, meaning to put them on by himself, but Ryu Tae-ha was stronger.
In the end, resigning himself and leaving his foot to him, Da-woon said flatly.
